Curriclum planning continues, and there is a school district employee that is sitting in on this meeting. She is catching herself up on six months of our work asking questions that start with "Well, have you thought of...?"

Yes! We have! Because we've been doing this for a while, and not driving by in an effort to justify a paycheck the way you are! 😡

Curriclum successes and failures: Didn't get Simone de Beauvoir or William Gibson added to the list of "literary texts", but parts of The Second Sex (and Slouching Towards Bethlehem) will be used as "non-literary texts". Borges DID get added, as well as Margaret Atwood. We also added our first graphic novel (Persepolis). Pablo Naruda, too.

The next hurdle: we're going home to read some stuff, and pick one more book. I'm pulling for Americanah.

I really want to go see Captain Marvel this weekend, and I really want to take my 5yo daughter. She has seen some other comic book movies, and I'm.comfortable with her seeing that kind of violence/humor/etc. for the most part. Did anyone see it that could tell me if there is anything scary or upsetting that is outside the norm?

Do you do paczki? It was a big thing in Detroit where a big Polish community shared these with the rest of us on Fat Tuesday. I haven't really seen them in Balt-Wash (although I have seen something similar in one local grocery store. Fastnacht? Maybe German?) I made my own, and they turned out pretty good.

My wife asked me a question she had discussed with coworkers: if you could only eat the food of one nation for the rest of your life, which would you choose? (she chose Mexico, I picked France). Some cheater picked America, because you could very honestly loop in Tex-Mex, American Chinese food and California rolls into the mix. I call shenenigans on that choice. Anybody have a better option?

My inlaws are visiting. If they want to go out to dinner, I don't mind if they pay or I pay. If they want to eat at our house, they can cook or I can cook. Whatever. The only thing that really irks me is when I cook, but my MIL stands at my elbow to "help". That seems to be her preferred method of getting dinner on the table, though.

I am so, so, so lucky (blessed, privileged, pick your adjective) to live where and how I do. Problems that felt unbearable this morning have been resolved, and I've been supported through my anxiety by a host of people that have my back. I know the good feelings won't last forever, but I needed a blast of positivity today and got it.

Am I getting less smart? Or did I have time in high school and college to hack away at texts. That's the value of education we don't tell kids that are getting it: "This is the last era of your life that you'll have time to read anything that you don't have to, or isn't for entertainment. If you ever want to learn something just for the sake of learning it, do it now."

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